[S]For me, and from what I've heard in general, digital zoom is a big no-no when it comes to any type of photography. Generally, even on point and shoots, the shots get horribly distorted and extremely noisy. I experimented with this on the Lumia 900, and found that the shots can just be subpar, but still enough to capture a moment when you don't have anything else around. This holds true for even video I believe.[/S] In this review of the camera hardware, Nokia Lumia 900 - Part 2 - Camera and Camcorder in depth review - All About Windows Phone there is a section that discuses "intelligent digital zoom." [S]The last photo I've attached was taken about 3 feet away from my laptops screen. If you try to do this in photo mode, it will look blurry, but take the photos, then take one step zoom when viewing, and you'll see it did in fact catch it with some clarity. If you try this in video mode, and you zoom in, you find it's still pretty sharp in all zoom levels. I've never had this with other phones I've used.[/S]

For me, and from what I've heard in general, digital zoom is a big no-no when it comes to any type of photography.

I'd never recommend using digital zoom. Digital zoom essentially is not using your camera's entire sensor, which results in much lower quality, a lower resolution, but a smaller file size. I'd always recommend capturing the entire scene and cropping it in Photoshop or some photo editing software after the fact. That way, not only do you have access to the original file if need be, but you also get much higher quality because as opposed to only using a few pixels on the CCD with digital zoom, you've used every pixel on the sensor. That results in better quality, and much less noise.

Here's an example that I found online by a fellow named Larry Shone about digital zoom vs cropping:

As you can see, cropping results in much better quality. While you may still be able to get "clear" shots with digital zoom by not moving the camera, the quality will degrade significantly. The only real advantage to digital zoom is the smaller file and the convenience.

One thing that bugs me a lot about the Lumia's camera is its crappy ability to actually focus on an object, especially when it comes to macro shots. If you read the following, Nokia Lumia 900 - Part 2 - Camera and Camcorder in depth review - All About Windows Phone, the writer makes the case that there is a software issue with the Lumia series with it focusing, namely how the focusing reticule always shows even though it isn't actually focused well on what the object is. On the macro examples he states it was the best one out of 4 shots.
I was experimenting with this and found out how to get your Lumia to focus 99.9% of the time. Basically in order for it to focus, the object you are focusing on needs to fill up the entire focus reticule (that white rectangle) on the screen. This is why tap to focus works a bit better because the focal point is about half the size of that of a half-press to focus, allowing better focusing on objects.
I hope this information helps some people who are having trouble getting macro photos and trying to achieve the bokeh affect.

Originally Posted by EvanKr

I'd never recommend using digital zoom. Digital zoom essentially is not using your camera's entire sensor, which results in much lower quality, a lower resolution, but a smaller file size. I'd always recommend capturing the entire scene and cropping it in Photoshop or some photo editing software after the fact. That way, not only do you have access to the original file if need be, but you also get much higher quality because as opposed to only using a few pixels on the CCD with digital zoom, you've used every pixel on the sensor. That results in better quality, and much less noise.

Here's an example that I found online by a fellow named Larry Shone about digital zoom vs cropping:

As you can see, cropping results in much better quality. While you may still be able to get "clear" shots with digital zoom by not moving the camera, the quality will degrade significantly. The only real advantage to digital zoom is the smaller file and the convenience.

Hmm... I probably got excited with the quality I was getting compared to previous and other devices. Other devices, the quality of the zoom was like the example, extremely pixelated and just mush. With the Lumia 900, I found it to hold enough detail to make it alright. Now that I took a full shot and compared it (which I should have done so in the first place), it is apparent that the cropped is better than the zoom when you look at them at full resolution (as in 100%, not zoom to fit).

It's common to see that in Europe, even chicken with their heads attached. My wife won't eat the shrimp in France because they still have their heads. :D

The West Side Market has been around in Cleveland for 100 years. It is owned by the city, but the vendors are private businesses who rent their spaces. Many are the great-great-granchildren of original vendors.

They also sell rabbits, ducks, Limburger cheese, headcheese (which isn't cheese at all), chicken feet, and foods that would be common in Europe but not in the US.

A lot of the vendors do have foods from their nationalities.

It isn't done anymore, but back when my grandmother went to the West Side Market, she picked out a live chicken. The vendor chopped off its head, cleaned off the feathers, cleaned out the innards, and wrapped it for my grandmother to take home. Beside the typical giblets, the feet were included with the chicken.

Alright! Let's get those Panorama's going! I'll start, this was my First Dodger game in 3 years. My Pop and I actually moved seats, because we were at Right Field, no one was behind home plate, so we moved and I bring you this. It was done with Nokia Creative Suite.

Alright! Let's get those Panorama's going! I'll start, this was my First Dodger game in 3 years. My Pop and I actually moved seats, because we were at Right Field, no one was behind home plate, so we moved and I bring you this. It was done with Nokia Creative Suite.

I still have yet to take a pano, but scenic photos have never been my favorite subject, even when I shot 35mm film. I've always favored urban landscapes and portraits. I'll try to get some panos, though; I should make the effort to do so.